Beijing [China], September 16 : American rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, performance in China's Hainan came off as a surprise, since Beijing has long imposed a number of restrictions on speech, music and even hip-hop, leading to a huge reduction in similar performances in the country, the New York Times reported.
Ye, performed a sold-out show for his album series "Vultures" in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province, on Sunday night as per Chinese media outlet Global Times
Under a trending hashtag on the social media site Weibo on the subject, one popular comment read simply "How?" alongside an exploding-head emoji.
According to NYT, the answer may lie in China's struggling economy. Ever since Beijing reopened its borders after three years of coronavirus lockdowns, the government has been trying to stimulate consumer spending and promote tourism.
"Vigorously introducing new types of performances desired by young people, and concerts from international singers with super internet traffic, is the outline for future high-quality development," the government of Haikou, the city hosting the listening party, posted on its website on Thursday.
However, it remains unclear whether the appearance by Ye perhaps the highest-profile Western artist to perform in mainland China since the pandemic is part of a broader loosening or an exception, NYT reported.
Notably, even before the pandemic, the number of big-name foreign entertainers visiting China was falling as the authorities imposed restrictions on speech.
Acts such as Bon Jovi and Maroon 5 had shows abruptly cancelled, leading to speculation that band members' expressions of support for causes like Tibetan independence were to blame. Justin Bieber was barred from China in 2017 over what the Beijing city government, without specifying, called "bad behavior."
The Chinese authorities also declared a war on hip-hop in 2018, with the state news media saying that artists who insulted women and promoted drug use "don't deserve a stage."
But in Ye's case, objections to hip-hop may have been outweighed by the potential payoff especially for Hainan, according to New York Times.
The Chinese government has been trying for years, to turn Hainan, an island roughly the size of Maryland or Belgium, into an international commercial hub. It offers visa-free entry and duty-free shopping, and has pledged to attract more world-class cultural events.
Ye, who is touring to promote "Vultures," his new album series with the singer Ty Dolla Sign, has praised China. He told Forbes in 2020 that the country "changed my life." He lived in the city of Nanjing as a fifth grader, when his mother was teaching English there.
Also, the issues that have led Western brands to cut off collaborations with Ye and alienated many American fans, like his antisemitic and homophobic comments, are of less concern to Chinese officials.
It is pertinent to note that a week before officials announced Ye's Hainan stop, a listening party planned for Taiwan was abruptly cancelled. The Taiwan organizers cited "unforeseen circumstances." It is unclear whether the cancellation was related to Ye's show in China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, the New York Times reported.
Even after Ye passed the Chinese censors, some complained that he should not have. Objections were raised to his lyrics and personal behavior from a string of submissions to Haikou's public complaints website. One user even declared them "inconsistent with our country's cultural and social values."
Some Ye supporters suggested that those complaints were from disgruntled Taylor Swift fans. Swift, with whom Ye has a long and well-documented feud, has yet to announce any China dates for her Eras tour.
The anti-Ye comments have since disappeared from the government website.
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